


Anything But School

by Infinity_formation



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Crime, Judar is a big cat and brings home big mice for Hakuryuu praise him, a what?, bad relationship with formalized instruction, criminal collection practices of Gringotts, deaged, funding, the wizarding world being crazy irresponsible with children, wizarding world racism, you’re a wizard Hakuryuu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 18:36:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21104114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infinity_formation/pseuds/Infinity_formation
Summary: Judar and Hakuryuu find themselves deagged and (with company) in the wizarding world. Determined to maintain their independence and take care of each other they scheme through the politics of this new world and make their way home.Title may change





	Anything But School

“100 pounds” The goblin pushes the bills across the counter. That was it? He was sure the necklace had been worth more than that. Were the buyers cheating him again?

“Daemon” He looked back to the goblin who was eyeing him. “Even though you are young surely even you have realized the wizard foke are not welcoming to outsiders. You should not rely on them overly so.”

He sighed and pocketed the money. “Yeah, but I don’t fit the human jobs well. I’m not one for desk work.” 

The goblin chuckled. “Perhaps not. Consider lending your services to different clients perhaps.” 

He grinned. “Oh? You have an offer?”

“Check in at the department of internal financing tomorrow at 9am. Be sure to be prompt.” He gave him a pointed look.

He laughed. “I will, I will. Thanks for the recommendation Cex.”

Cex huffed. “I did no such thing. But I dare say many in the community would be pleased to see you no longer being short changed by those wizards. Run along home now, you’re holding up the que.”

There was no que, he was the last customer at the exchange before closing, as was common for him. Never the less he waved and headed on his way. 

The streets were less crowded at dusk. He’d learned this was partly due to custom, and partly to avoid beings like himself who tended to be more nocturnal. Judar was lucky that he was human, if he stored his staff as rukh and never had need to use magic none of the wizards could tell that he wasn’t one of them. He still tended to avoid too much contact withthem outside of work. As Cux had said all the wizards seemed to look down on him even as they hired him for his powers. It had been funny at first but became less so when people wouldn’t do business or interact with him. 

He left through a side ally down nocturne that took him into the being districts where he’d first discovered the magical community of this world. The wizards mostly avoided the area leaving him free to zoom by on his staff and he passed through a few residential neighborhoods and dodged the annoying werelady that kept trying to fuss over him and her calls of “reckless flying- going to crash.” Bahh...

Finally he reached the general store at the edge of the being district that hid the passage into non-magical London. It was co-run by the bickering vampire werewolf couple that years ago had found Judar robbing their store in the middle of the night when he was panicking on how to take care of Hakuryuu and had been attracted to the closest signs of magic. From here it was only a 20 minute walk to the apartment they’d set him up with that he shared with Hakuryuu. 

It was a relief to walk back into their little studio apartment and let his adult illusion fade. It was small: only a small kitchen, a tiny bathroom with a shower handle they could barely reach, and a little common area attached to the kitchen where they’d managed to fit two children’s beds and the table and chairs where Hakuryuu was finishing up his homework. Even though it was tiny and he had to constantly cloak himself outside and work all these jobs outside of what he was used to, it was worth it to keep Hakuryuu safe and keep both of them away from the witch. 

“Welcome home.” Hakuryuu finished writing whatever problem he was on and jumped off to zap their dinners in the microwave. He still thought he should get a chance to zap them. “They were taking about middle school today. I really think you should enroll.” 

This again. Judar didn’t really want to go to any “school” again. He’d watched one of Hakuryuu’s classes at his insistence and it had brought up too many memories of being drilled to learn magic. Besides, someone needed to be bringing in money for their studio and food. Judar didn’t like his work but it was better than suffering in a tight room with little kids and being told by adults what to do. (Maybe that wasn’t too far off from some of his jobs but he could always say no to those, he didn’t feel so trapped.) He’d brushed it off as boring and hoped that would be the end of it but Hakuryuu seemed convinced that Judar needed to attend school  “for his future.”  Which was a really unconvincing argument. He was fine. Or fine enough.Judar was dreading the day Hakuryuu realized he would be a lot more effective telling Judar to go to school for  him , not for Judar’s own future, or straight up ordering him to do it. But it had been years now and Hakuryuu had been pleasantly distracted with said school work and seemed to have forgotten that, even if their titles were gone, Hakuryuu would always be Judar’s King just as Judar would always be his Magi. Which, yes, was painful but he’d stick with Hakuryuu no matter what happened. At least it meant no school. 

“Middle school is just going to be like your current school right? Desks and teachers and writing?” 

Hakuryuu got that look on his face that meant he couldn’t refute that and that he knew this was a losing battle but he’d make his point anyway. “Yes, but the topics are more complex. There will be some elective courses in addition to the basic curriculum, and it’s going to be hard for you to get into a good high school without going to middle school.”

“Good thing I’m not planning to go to high school then.” 

Hakuryuu looked like he wanted to shake him. Oops, time to get his food then.

“Anyway, I need to be searching for a way to get us home. I’ll just be distracted with all of the school shit.” He picked up his plate, curry over rice and fruit, and attempted to subtly speed walk over to his seat at the table.

Hakuryuu did not look impressed. Darn. “You’re already being distracted. Please Judar, give it some more thought. You can get better jobs with high school.”

Judar was sure his face belayed his skepticism so he quickly stuffed a fork full of curry into his mouth. 

Hakuryuu sighed and took his own plate back to the table with glasses of water for them. 

They went over Hakuryuu’s homework as they ate. Hakuryuu made Judar read everything out loud and explain how Hakuryuu had arrived at his answers. It was their current compromise, if Judar wouldn’t go to school Hakuryuu would teach him at home. They didn’t have time to go over much so they mostly went over whatever Haukuyruu decided were “basic life skills.” The crazy writing system here had been awful, even if it was making his life a lot easier now that he could read all the signs. (Hakuryuu probably did have a point about going to school, he usually did, but he  didn’t want to . Maybe he was just a little scared. He didn’t want to deal with that.)

As they washed up and got into bed Judar took a look at the calendar he’d scavenged/shoplifted from a discount bin. Tomorrow was Hakuryuu’s 11th birthday in their deaged bodies. This world seemed to treat birthdays as special, he wanted to do something to make Hakuryuu feel special too. He’d bring home something extra shiny. He smiled as he curled up under his covers. Hakuryuu would like it. 

He did somehow manage to get to the bank by 9am the next day. He groggily knocked on the polished wooden door to the department of internal financing. It opened almost immediately and he was waved into some big shot’s minimalist office with a grandiose desk and uncomfortable chair for him to sit in. The goblin behind the desk eyed him expectantly. “Greetings Daemon. Cux has informed me you are taking jobs for payment instead of a Contract. Is this true?”

“I’ve already picked. I don’t need a Contract with anyone else.” 

“Good, good. Now then, to business. We regularly have a few clients that fall short of their contracts. Most of these cases are settled in our client assistance program however, some of them believe they don’t need to make good on their word. We need someone of your talents to help us resolve such cases.”

Oh. So, more stealing and shakedowns. He could do that. 

“Knowing your affiliation with Dario I don’t believe I need to go into detail. We’ll provide you with a list of your objectives, you see them through. Is this acceptable?”

He nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Excellent. There is also the matter of one of the lower vaults scheduled for increased enchantments this winter.” He clasped his hands.

“We want an outside eye.” Big Shot explained. “We have reason to believe the wizards will consider an attempt on it and want to take all precautions.”

Judar nodded. He’d been hired to get around wards before. He knew enough to know where to look and how to sense the power behind them. 

“Very good. We’ll contact you when the arrangements have been made. In the meantime, please finish these other assignments.” He passed over a roll of parchment. Ugh, reading. 

He picked it up and glanced over it. It was mostly muscle work tracking down or intimidating wizards running away from their loans. There was a date to collect by, amount he needed to collect, and how much he’d get for each job next to the account. He smiled “Got it.” 

“Very well. Return to the department when you’ve completed an entry on the list and once the payments are processed we’ll give you your share.” He gave him a nasty look. “It goes without saying that any returns are to come straight to Gringots and not spent or used in any other way. That includes any of Dario’s schemes. Everything goes through the bank first. Are we clear child?”

He bristled. “Dario’s not my Chosen. He can’t make me do squat! And I’m not that young or stupid. Of course I’m not running off with any money.”

Big Shot huffed but relaxed. “You are still not a century, correct? You are still a child.” 

Urrfgrahhha He wanted to protest that magi didn’t live as long as Goblins even if Scheherazade had made it past 250 and Yunan was old as dirt and ok maybe they had a point with Yunan but he was the exception. He hardly thought Sinbad or David or whichever stupid deity wrestled the reigns when he kicked the bucket was going to be fond enough of him to keep his memories around. (Wasn’t that a frightening thought, Sinbad or David erasing his memories and keeping him around in the sacred palace the way they’d kept Arba.)

And so the meeting ended and he got to take a look at some of the people on this scroll. Wouldn’t you know it, that guy had threatened him just the other week in knockturn! He knew where he was making his first visit! 

It was in much higher spirits and pockets a little heavier that he came home that night. Knockturn had turned out to be filled with targets that couldn’t exactly run to the law. He’d gotten Hakuryuu a beautiful safire pendent with his earnings! (He was quite proud of himself really. What other Magi could boast taking care of their King so well under these circumstances  and  bringing home a wonderful gift.) He knew boys didn’t wear as much jewelry here but it reminded him of Kou and Hakuryuu’s eyes and hoped that it would remind him of home and how special he was as Judar’s King.

“Hakuryuu! I’m- what is this!?” He was immediately serious and on guard. There was a witch and wizard in their home. He didn’t waste any time pushing between them and Hakuryuu. “What do you guys want? I haven’t done anything.”

The intruders raised their eyebrows while Hakuryuu pulled at him from behind. “Judar it’s ok. These people were just explaining a letter that got sent to us.”

“Letter?”

“Yes.” The man on the right moved forward. His posture was cautious but nonaggressive. However he was also around a foot taller than Judar, making his attempts to physical intimidate them away from Hakuryuu all the more ridiculous. He knew wizards didn’t respect physical ability anyway but he’d been warned enough by overbearing protective nags about using magic against a wizard where he could be caught and he didn’t have anything but his bluffing to fall back on. 

“You are the Judar at 1027 Barclay Road?” The witch interrupted. She was also taller with green robes and a stern expression. 

“So?” He wouldn’t make this easy.

“You name appeared along with Mr. Ren’s in the letter. Normally each Hogwarts student would receive their own letter when they come of age.”

Judar stayed silent a moment as he processed that. So it wasn’t anything as bad as he’d feared but he wasn’t happy they knew where they lived and, wait...

“A Hogwarts letter? Seriously?”

Hakuryuu cut back in. “Yes, could you please finish the explanation from earlier? What is this Hogwarts exactly?”

Judar reluctantly allowed Hakuryuu to push himself forward until he was standing slightly in front of him. 

Stern was quick to explain “Hogwarts is a school for young witches and wizards. Those accepted receive their letters on their 11th birthday for the following school year. Even living here in muggle London with no knowledge of the magical world, the letter would come to you. Only in this case, the magic that selects the students wrote not one, but two names in your letter.” She finally handed the letter over. 

Hakuryuu turned it over in his hands a few times before opening it. “Dear Mr. Ren and Judar, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl no later than December 31st.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva MoGonagall”

He looked back up from the letter. “And this is unusual?” 

Too Tall spoke this time. “Yes. The beginning line should only have the one name. If there was another student in the house a separate letter should have been delivered.”

“I see. And what were your concerns about Judar?”

The witch took over again. “This is the first time in over two centuries that such an event has occurred. Given the circumstances under which these events happened in the past the Hogwarts Board of Governors agreed that it was best to check on the students in question before start of term.” She glanced at Judar. “Though there were no previous cases recorded of the other name already reaching majority...” 

Hakuryuu furrowed his eyebrows in thought. Finally he spoke. “If Judar was younger, would he be going to school with me?”

No . Judar knew where this was going. Damn it all! 

“Yes, especially if he was around his younger teen years. We’ll have to have a meeting to discuss what accommodations can be made.”

“Ah, there’s no need for that. Judar, please release your illusion.” 

Yep. There it was. Doom to suffer in magic school all over again. Reluctantly he dropped the illusion and stood there pouting in his twelve year old glory. 

“Oh!” Both Stern and Too Tall looked taken aback but Stern quickly recovered. “Have you been using a charm to conceal your appearance all this time? Why-“ Her eyes darted around the room again and too how close they stood together. “I see. I believe I have an idea of the situation. Judar was it? Are you the acting head of household?”

Huh? No he-

“Yes.”

Oh, ok. “Uh, yeah.” What scheme did Hakuryuu have in mind?

Stern nodded. “We may be able to arrange a scholarship if you can provide documentation of income.”

What? What was a scholarship? “Ok” He needed to talk to Hakuryuu. 

Somehow Too Tall took this as a good moment to insert himself into the conversation. Rude. He knelt down in front of Hakuryuu making Judar itch to shoo him away. “We do still need to confirm the situation for protocol. Judar, you look to be a little older than Hakuryuu, yet you never got your own letter. Do either of you have any idea why the magic process would have treated you as one person?”

They glanced at each other. Clearly they both knew but it wasn’t something they had talked about in a long time. Judar shrugged. If Hakuryuu wanted to tell him that was fine with him.

Hakuryuu turned back to Too Tall. “We have a... magical bond of sorts? We don’t know much of the details ourselves.”

“I see. Was this something formed in a moment of danger you found yourselves in?”

They both nodded. Belial’s dungeon had definitely been dangerous. 

“That must have been it then. It is rare these days but in older times there were occasional cases of very young children binding their magic to each other to survive events they would not have been able to alone. I assume that’s why your family...” 

Hakuryuu shifted a bit before relenting. “My mother was the event more than anything. We do not know what happened to everyone else.”

“I see. I’m sorry to hear that. You’ve done a good job taking care of each other.” He took a deep breath as if the story was paining him. “In that case, would the two of you come into the ministry tomorrow to run a scan of the magical bond? Once we have that we can send our report to Hogwarts’s board of governors and you’ll both be able to prepare for the next school year. Though Judar, I’m afraid you’ll probably have to start with the first years even if you are little older.”

“Oh, ah, that’s cool.” 

“Yes yes, I’ll make sure they’re there myself.” Stern seemed quite upset about the whole thing. “Eleven o’clock at your office then?”

“Ah, yes.” And now Too Tall was flustered. Lovely. Could they all just  go  already? 

“I suppose I’ll be on my way then. Professor McGonagall-“ wait wasn’t that the name of the lady in the letter- “knows the way. I’ll see you boys tomorrow.” And then he was tipping his hat and walking out the door. At least one of them was gone.

MoGonagall? made a little huff of impatience that Judar fully agreed with. “I do apologize for all of this. Normally I would be the only one to come and explain the situation to you but the ministry has been insistent on involving itself in the preparation for the coming year. I’m sure this must be very confusing to you both.”

Yes! How was Hakuryuu a wizard?! Why did they have to go to school?! Couldn’t he just have an apprenticeship??  Could she please Go Away he was tired.

“Mmmn”

Hakuryuu was more vocal. “Ah, well, a few.”

McGonagall smiled gently at them. “I can answer any pressing questions you have now but I do believe it’s past your bedtimes.” 

Judar spluttered as Hakuryuu giggled. He  giggled at him! 

“That’s fine professor. I’m sure most of our questions can wait until tomorrow. What time may we expect you?”

“Eight o’clock sharp. We’ll be visiting the wizarding government so make sure to get enough sleep and dress presentable.”

Hakuryuu nodded all seriously as Judar began sagging into him. “We’ll be ready.”

She gave him a fond look. “Very good. Have a good night then, Hakuryuu, Judar.” And with that she was finally leaving. 

The door closed and a crack! later Hakuryuu turned around with an evil smile on his face. 

“So, Judar, when were you going to tell me about wizards?”

Oh Fuck.


End file.
